Game piece



G. PASCHAL GAME PIECE Jan. 14, 1947.

Filed July 10, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. '14, 1947. 4 PASCHAL 2,414,165

GAME PIECE Filed 'July 10, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 4 Patented J an. 14, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to games of skill in which two or more contestants pit their wits and study and mental alertness against one another without dependence upon chance; and particularly to the well-known class of naval games commonly using game-pieces in the form of vessels of war, in an attempt to simulate a naval engagement between two fleets of squadrons of opposing enemies; into which class I have devised and introduced a basic innovation creating an entirely novel game of this type, which at the time of the application for these Letters Patent is being successfully played with interest and entertainment by ofiicers and men of our armed land, air and naval forces. y

The object of my invention is to produce such .a game differing from the elementary plan of simple, obvious and casual play upon an arbitrarily-selected rule-basis at wide variance from experience and conditions of actual warfare, and which will present to the players probsub-aqueous operations by submarine vessels equipped actually and physically with the customary attack factors found in real warfare, surface operations carried on by surface craft equipped with such attack factors as are usual to such naval vessels, air operations by carrierborne and based airplanes equally adapted and devised to follow the actualities which the players have seen in such warfare if veterans, or will see if and when they reach the area of such warfare; with the added inclusion of the fourth elementof the land forces and beach-head establishment and invasion by army divisions and military equipment for land attack implicit in the provision of transportation thereof as an important part of the game, of the game-pieces, of the object of the game, on which depends the entire strategy and a considerable part of the playing operations, affording opportunity for the display of innate aptitude for naval strategy, and for gradually developing the faculty of this strategy in theplayers, there being current in naval circles the demand for such a game for the indicated purpose.

A further object is to provide such a game which will be easily understood without the retardation of intricacy, learned well by the, act and fact of playing it, entertainingly adaptable to the minds of alert youth and sage age, yet uniquely intriguing to sailors, marines, soldiers and air-forces, and the ofiicers of all four, by whom its underlying strategy will be recognized as closely consonant with that of naval warfare.

An especial object of my invention is to provide such a game as above-mentioned, involving the carrying on of operations simultaneously in the three dimensions of war, the subaqueous, the surface, and the aerial, in which the various stated combatant elements may carry on their characteristic warfare each operating in its own stratum, yet with the ability to invade the territory of the other combatant elements in different strata, attack them in their own elemental field, all without interference of motion to or by any of them in ways or manners in which they might safely travel in actuality, but with inhibition of any motion or action which in real life the vessel represented could not make or take, and with the ability and liability of conquest or capture or symbolized destruction such as would so eventuate in usual combat; andmore particularly its object in this regard is to allow and depict and represent and operate such combat in the three separate dimensionsand strata in a game which may be played upon a game-board constructed of or with a plane surface.

The invention is, in its broad aspect and essence as a complete entity, a game entitled by me Transport, in which, in an amphibious expedition involvin the attempted landing of substantial ground forces and 'matriel and commissary supplies, a naval task force undertakes to convoy a transport carrying these through the enemy fleet in safety; the object and the termination of the game :being the destruction by one fleet or task force of the transport of the enemy in a skilled contest or game of which the charactering and powering of the participant game-pieces have been worked out along scientific mathematical lines and calculations; with intermediate or intervening destruction of defending pieces usually found necessary to eliminate to attack the transport, or to save the players own pieces from destruction while engaged in so attacking; and in which the play is conducted throughout the entire game simultaneously in supposed and structurally defined areas of subaqueous, surface, and air traverse and combat,

- in which'motion of the several individual gamepieces is stratum-restricted by the essential devices of the invention herein defined, while attack is permited by the same inventive features, intothe stratum of another game-piece in such simulated manner as is common to the real combat; there being two such features'cooperating to effect such extra-stratum attack, as well as extra-stratum defense, the second of such features being likewise and equally designed to constitute a novel form of game attack intra-straturn as well as inter-strata, rendering the strategy of the game far more realistically intriguing than any mere game of pieces which'are but dummies with names and shapes asis the case with most games of this class.

The invention comprises, with an appropriate game-board, first, a limited number of gamepieces manufactured respectively in the outward semblance and characters in the battle, of major vessels and other established naval units, representing the three-dimensional branches of surface units, sub-aqueous units, and aerial units, each adapted, charactered and powered in play so as to meet and conquer or be met and conquer'ed, by such other like enemy units as will be encountered in reality, together with the perils to andffrbm' the same, which will in such reality of war" exist, not by mere rules of play but by the devisement of certaindefined physical attributes of the gamepieces, and by thein'troduction into the'gameofauxiliary game-pieces which practi'callyj do all the conquest actions of the game and impart new situations when they are brought into the game and upon the game-board, so that when they successively are placed upon the board, and successively moved backward and. forward in intelligently planned lay, the game presented by the 'game-boardfwith its assembled pieces of both players for four in the double-team-form thereof) bffersfan' entirely different picture to the player 'eye View of the participants, as well as to the 'watching audience in an expert exhibition game; tjo'what it did in the early stages of the contest, where it started with the simple set pieces'of each player placed upon the board at the outset, it being understood that my game embodies the two principles of three-dimensional 'cemba't defined to the view of each and all playersas wellas all spectators at all times, and the superposition upon the boardduring the progress of'the matchfof a possibly considerably large number of "additional pieces supplemental to the main or majorpieces, which are introduced and constantly moved upon the board into positions involving a greaterand greater intricacy of potentialities, depending upon the skill of the players,the length to which the game may be extended by an even balance of skills andof offense and defensej' all as more fully described hereinafter in this specification.

"Secondly, it consists in a task force in miniature, composed of two fighting surface vessels, charactered'and powered to fight in a close appreximation to the customary manner of such vessels, a submarine'powered to move and to fight assuch units do, an airplane carrier having two launcha-ble planes appurtenant thereto, and otherwise unarmed and unprotected except by the presence 'of the two major vessels and the submarineasisthe fact inreality, and a transport 'vesselsuppositiously carrying land soldiery, infantry,'engineers, artillery, and tank personnel, matriel'an'd supplies, thus adding the element/of g'r ound forcesto the marine surface fleet units, giving'the complete atmosphere of warbe-ing cenducted on land and sea, undersea and in-the air, in three dimensions or alitud s; h fthe vessels bein h ra ersd a powered, as a surface, or undersea or aerial unit,

4 to proceed in its own medium without conflict with any vessel operating in a different medium, and on the game-board thus can or cannot occupy a position or square in simultaneity with another piece of the same or opposing player, or pass such piece under or over the same, depending basically and necessarily upon its own character as a surface, undersea or aerial unit or empennage of same, and depending concomitantly upon the contrary character and medium of operation, of the game-piece which it passes, or with which it shares a square; the said charactering and, powering f the game-pieces being definite,

' inherent and fixed by the inventive and structural and permanent features hereinbefore indicated and hereinafter described, by which the game- 'pie'ces are distinguished inter se and also from any prior game-pieces in this class of games.

Thirdly, it consists in the especially novel and unusual feature, appropriate to the close approximation of the game to naval warfare reality, as 'hereinabove intimated, that the main fleet units do not, with certain exceptions required for verisimilitude, themselves conquer and destroy an opposing unit, or the enemy transport itself, by direct action against it, but there are provided subordinate or auxiliary game-pieces launched from certain of the main fleet units in proximity to such unit, insuch manner, position and direction of pointing as to sink or de-' sftroy, or threaten torso do on a subsequent move, a specific enemy piece but which may be eluded by opposing strategy. The main units being placed upon the board initially, at the fleet-base, and the subordinate game pieces being launched in mid-ocean or mid-combat only as decided upon solely by the'player' himself in the conduct of the 'games strategy, in position and pointing determinable only atJthe time of such launching ofsaid subordinate game-piece, and so launched only by the expenditure of one move or turn to play for each such subordinate piece, and each successive move thereof. Also the aerial elements ofthe gamejbeing held on the carrier as in actual war, so launched asjust described. and either or'bothlost without any previous or future participation incomba't if their carrier be destroyed before its planes are launched.

Fourthly, it consistsjin the likewise quite novel feature of a continuously visible strategy condition and element, by easily visible and readable fixed indices of power of attack, and vulnerability or invuln'erability toattack, of the several combatant fleet units, and of the various subordinate game-pieces launched by them in midcomjb'atfindep'endent of rules, change of rules, memory of rules, the indices being marked upon the several pieces in an inter-related similarity of marking, so asto make it possible at a glance, toknow throughout the game which piece or pieces can. destroy which enemy pieces, by reason of distinguishing'them as operative in their respectivemedia, as destructive of a piece operative in the 'same'medium, and'as destructible by a correspondingly marked unit-piece or subordinate piece or both; whileat the same time making the game continuously indicative of the ability or inability of any piece to rightfully occupy a ingindices upon the game-pieces of such op ponent, and particularly upon said enemy gamepieceswhich are of adiiferent character from the respective ones upon which the opposite pieces have: been so provided with such indices, and upon the auxiliary game-pieces above-mentioned, and also being dependent upon being at all times visible to both players or all players simultaneously, as a constant revelation and display of the appraisable situation presented to both or all players in determining the course of play, and to the umpire and spectators in exhibition matches, also in order that any player or umpire may quickly check a wrong impermissible move onto an inhibited square by either player.

Lastly, it consists in the game I have worked out embodying all these elements cooperating together to create a simulated naval combat so closely approximating the actual conditions and strategy that it practically becomes a three dimensional battle of reality on a two dimensional surface of a special game-board which I have also worked out to extend to the game the strategy of wide scope of waters and maneuvering that characterizes naval engagements upon .the high seas, and which enables the playing of an even more scientific and exciting game thereon, with four players whose individual moves aifect constantly and materially the strategy of play of the partner or ally and himself jointly, as well as that of his opponents.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which like numerals of reference indicate like parts in the several views:

- Figure 1 is a plan view of a game-board with the main game-pieces of each of two opponents, placed upon the edges of the board, with the subordinate game-pieces laid on the table or other surface beside the board, ready for play in due course of the game. In this figure, I have shown in dotted lines certain of the game-pieces, both main and subordinate, as they appear or may appear in an actual game being played. These dotted 'figures of the pieces accurately illustrate the play, demonstrate the varying respective powers and theory of movements of the pieces, the position of launching of the subordinate pieces, the motions thereof already made, and those permissible. I

In this figure I have used single arrow-headed dotted lines to indicate that the piece or pieces can move in that direction; double dotted lines, arrow-headed, to indicate that the piece has already just moved as so shown; and zigzag lines, arrow-headed, to indicate that the piece must not and can not move in that direction.

In Figure 2 I have shown the same game-board with four sets of the game-pieces arranged to be played by four players, in teams of two players on each side. It will be noted that in this double game, the game-pieces of each ally or partner will be placed upon the board reversely to those of his said partner, and that while each transport remains initially in. the centre of the task-force, the other fleet units which in the single game lie at the left of the transport, and those which lie at the right thereof, are shown oppositely disposed relatively to the respective transports of the allied task-forces.

:; Figure 3 shows in enlarged view one each of the subordinate game-pieces formingpart of the invention, which are launched or fired by'the main fleet-units as hereinafter described; the shell. 9ozand the torpedo. 8a being shown in side elevation, and the airplane 6a shown in plan view. i

Figure 4, which, like 2, is on sheet 2 of the drawings, is an enlarged view, centrally broken, of the battleship game-piece in top plan.

Figure 5 is a similar enlarged plan view of the aircraft-carrier game-piece.

Figure 6 is a similar enlarged plan view of the transport game-piece.

Figure 7 is an enlarged view in perspective side elevation and plan, of the destroyer game-piece.

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure '7, of the submarine game-piece.

In all the figures of these two sheets of drawings, the battleship and aircraft-carrier gamepieces are shown as being materially larger than the other pieces, for a purpose explained hereafter. But it is not necessary that the proportion of these to the others be so great, nor that the other fleet-unit pieces all be so small relatively. The proportion of one to the other, or others, is a matter of choice, provided that the purpose of having the battleship and the carrier materially larger, namely, to enable them to occupy more than one square, and extend over two squares at least in part, be carried out.

In manufacturing my invention, I first make a game-board almost exactly like a regular chess and checker board, except that I construct it, or have it marked off, with eleven squares both in width and depth, that is, eleven rows of eleven squares alternately black and white or equivalent color or shade distinction. It is possible to play the single game upon a common chess board of eight rows of eightsquares, but the strategy of the game is cramped thereby, and where, as in soldiers kits or other luggage, one can easily carry the pieces but not also a board, I provide a thin paper or other foldable-small outline or surface part, to be clipped upon a regular size chess or checker board, which will mean making the squares slightly smaller thereon than on the eight-square common board on which it is fitted,- in which case care is to be exercised that the size of the squares and of the game-pieces is so adjusted that the several pieces each fit within one square, except those designed purposely to be longer, as hereinafter described. I do not limit the board to eleven squares however, and may employ a larger number provided an odd number is used, so that the black squares, e. g., always show at either end of the back lines or rows. And" preferably, for the better playing of the game with adequate scope of movement,

' and not too much, I employ such number of squares as will be double the number of fleet units or main pieces, plus one square, resulting in eleven, in the five-unit game shown.

Describing first the game as designed for two opponents, I manufacture five main pieces in the contour and character respectively of a submarine la, an airplane carrier 2a, a transport vessel 3a, a battleship 4a, and a destroyer 5a. The pieces la, 3a, and 5a are made of a size to fit within a square of the game-board designed for this game. The carrier 2a, and the battleship 4a, are made large enough to cover in length all of one square and'part of the square in front of it, or in other words occupy two squares at once, which is a part of the powering and movement-prescription of these pieces, and also a determinant of their vulnerability, since a vessel occupying two squares may not only move relatively to said squares as hereinafter defined, but may be attacked in either square so occupied,

Alongside the player and. the board are laid 7 two airplanes 60,, la, or these planes may be made small enough to place upon the carrier 2a. Near them are laid five shells 9a and four torpedoes 8a. The planes, once launched, are maneuvered as fleet units, but in themanner' of their launching and the fact that they directly sink and destroy enemy pieces without intermediate employment of any other game-piece to do this, they have much the character of the shells 9a and the torpedoes 8a, which ,aremissiles' appurtenant to'certain of the main fleet units la to d inclusive, and usable only as such, and place'able upon the board at all only in. connection therewith, as hereinafter explained. The planes are supposed to be bomlbers, hence are lethal in themselves, without added missiles, such as shells or torpedoes.

Upon each of the main game-pieces and the subordinate ones, are placed clearly and continuously visible marks as indicia of power and-of vulnerability. These indicia are dots or other marks of severaldifiere'nt colors. Those dots on the bow of a vessel indicate first the particular enemy pieces which the bearers of these dots-can destroy. Concomitantly they indicate what missile, if any, they can launch for the purpose of such destruction. A dot of a certain color, for example, indicates that the piece havingthat dot on its bow can launch or fire any piece which is handed or striped with that identical color; hence, consequently; itfollows that any colored band on apiece indicates to all players instantly that this piece may be launched or fired by any piece having adot'on its bow of the same color as that band. If a banded piece bears a given color and no other piece carries acorrespondingly colored dot on its how, it is clear that no other piece can launch or fire it. The only instance of this is in the case of thedestroyer, which 1 band with an orange color, which indicates that the destroyer can sink and destroy any vessel having an orange mark on'its' stern or. tail, as such tail marks are an indication of vulnerability as follows:

A dot on thetail indicates that the game piece so marked can be sunk by any piece bearing on its bow portion a mark of exactly like color; Pieces may have tail-dots of several colors, indicative of vulnerability to any one of several pieces which have provided with bow marks of any color among those found on the tail of any piece. The bow-dots or indicia of power to attack pieces of which there are tail-dots of like color, or of power to fire or launch a banded piece, are designated by the reference numeral l the bands indicating that they may be. so launched or fired, are designated I, as is the band on the destroyer indicating that it can destroy the submarine having a like colored tail-dot; the tail-dots indicating vulnerability are designated 12.

As no'colors appear upon the drawings, I recite the color-markings;- The banded pieces are the destroyer, just mentioned, orange band; the airplanes, green lband; the shells, red band; the .tore pedoes, yellow band. The bow-dotted pieces are carrier, green, indicating that it may launch the plane; the battleship, red, indicating that it may fire the shells; the destroyer and the submarine, yellow, indicating that either may fire or discharge the torpedoes; the 'transport'may ormay not carry a red dot, and the shells. The taildotted pieces are the battleship, red, yellow and green, indicating that it may be destroyed either by a shell from the. enemy battleship, a torpedo from a destroyer or a submarine, or by an airplane; then the carrier: and the transport, similarly dottedred', yellow andgreen, with the same ind-icated'vulnerability,which obviously in reality these fleet uni-ts possess; next, there is the dcstroyer, red and green, indicating that it may be destroyed by a battleship-shell, or by an airplane with a bomb, but not by a torpedo, since actually a destroyer at speed will be able to dodgeor elude a torpedo, and under other conditions be protected-from such by a smoke screen or otherwise; next, the submarine, orange and green, indicating that it can be destroyed by a, destroyer, through ramming if on or near the surface or by a depth charge, also by an airplane bomb, while it cannot be reached by a shell or a torpedo, being subaqueous; lastly, the plane, red and green, indicating that it may be shot down by a shell, or ack ack, or destroyed by. an enemy plane, but is not vulnerable-to the yellow-.torpedo or the -or-. ange ramming attack of a destroyer.

On the opposite side of the game-board there is provided an exactly identical set of game-pieces lb to 9b inclusive, identicallymarked. The opposing task-forces and all their subordinate striking pieces or missiles, are each bodily-colored in'some uniform ,color or shade common to all the pieces of the same side of the board, At present I employ game-pieces respectively blue for one opponent, and gray for the other. On the drawings, this distinction is represented by depicting one side in clear outlines,and theopposite side in hatched or shaded bodies. 7

The powers of destruction of the specified pieces, being so marked, are fixed and not variant, and in fact reside and depend in and on the characters given them, by their actually in reality of warfare being qualifiedto sink certain vessels in a certain wa or ways, and to be in peril from other vessels in definite other Ways, It being of the essence of my invention toapplythese powers and perils to the pieces, I further add to the same certain powers of relative and comparative movements, to correspondwith the actualities additionally.

1 First, the battleship and the aircraft carrier are, as stated, made of a size to occupy effectively two contiguous and successive squares each; thus these pieces may move from the sternsquare sidewise in a pivoted rotary motion to place the bow on any one of eight squares, or seven other than the square on which said bow has been resting; or using the bow as the focus or pivot, the stern may be placed on any one of eight squares surrounding said bow-focus-square; or these pieces may move forwardly or rearwardly in line with the longitudinal direction of the piece upon the board just pr-iorto movingit. These pieces may move anywhere, in any direction, occupying diagonal .as well as straight vertically. or horizontally disposed squares, so long as the piece stays in one of the squares it already occupies.

The submarine, fittingly with its character limits, is restricted to the black diagonal squares; having the power to move two squares on its first move, skipping the intervening black square, and this regardless of any piece then-lying upon the said black square, which theoretically it passes under, submerged. A fterth-is first'move, it may move but one square at a'time, always the black diagonals only.

The destroyer moves two-squares in a straight line in 'any dire'ction on its first move, and-one square onzsuccessive movements; which recog-x 9 nizes the wider scope of movement in varied directionsupon the surface of the seas than a submarine, and the lesser power and shooting range of a destroyer compared to a battleship, for example, which is given a greater scope of movement as just above defined.

The transport,conformably to its relative position, and proportionate motility and speed when loaded, is accorded movement in one square in any direction at each turn.

The planes are launched, one at a time, as elected by each player, and one may be placed initially in any square contiguous to the carrier from which it is launched, which launching consumes the move. It may be pointed in any direction when so placed or launched, and at this time makes no other move. On subsequent moves, the plane moves two squares in the direction in which it has been previously pointed, or one move in any direction. At the completion of a move, the plane may be repointed. It may not be repointed in the same space, but only after moving to a new square, at the end of that move.

After the carrier is sunk, no planes can be launched therefrom. The planes can pass over any intervening piece on the board, being an aerial unit not in conflict with surface or undersea units, except a shell pointed directly at it,

or another plane pointed directly at it.

The shells are fired from the battleships in the same manner as planes are launched; i. e., one

"at a time, as a distinct move or turn of the player, in a space contiguous to the battleship. They may be pointed in any direction, and on successive turns move one square at a time, only in the direction originally pointed, which may not at any time be changed, conformably to the nature of a fired shell; anl for a like reason, when by successive movements they move off the board, the player takes them back 'to'his place and may fire them again later, since no battleship is sup osedly limited to a handful of shells. A shell may not be pointed at its own firing battleship.

Torpedos are fired from destroyers and submarines in the exact manner in which shells are fired from the battleships, except that on the initial launching a torpedois located upon any contiguous square, pointed in any direction, and then moved immediately one square more, in the same direction only, in which it Was initially pointed. On successive moves, it also moves one square at a time, like the shell, exclusively in the initially-pointed direction, and is recoverable like the shell, after being moved oiT-the board, and re-usable, if either destroyer or submarine is still afloat.

A piece is destroyed when any other piece of an enemy, to which it is vulnerable as shown by the indicia of power and vulnerability, marked upon the several pieces, moves to the square it is on. The entry upon the square of any enemy piece to which it is not vulnerable is of no effect. The battleship must sink an enemy by its shells. The carrier by its planes. the destroyer by their torpedos, except that the destroyer can sink the submarine by ramming it, hence the entry upon the square by a destroyer sinks any submarine occupying it. Just as the entry upon a square of a plane (bomber and lethal per se) destroys any fleet unit thereon.

The destroying fleet unit survives and. remains upon the square. A destroying 'missile,

shell or torpedo, entering a square housing a vul- -ne1"able unit, destroys the same, and with'its vic- The submarine and tim is removed from the board; the unit unusable thereafter, but the missile re-usable, conformably to the nature of each and to realities.

It isof' course understood that no piece may move uponand into a squarealready occupied by a piece to which it is vulnerable, but is free to do so if the square is occupied only by pieces to which it is invulnerable. Also that the players each alternately move, one move at a time, as above described, the one moving first being decided by any agreed means or any rules established. The foregoingmethod of playing may be varied in minor ways, and the game may still be played, and will still be the unique game invented, based upon a near duplication or representation of naval warfare in conditions transferred to a board of two dimensions to'enframe a game of units operating authentically in three dimensions or media. l

In thedotted lines of Figure l of the drawings,

are depicted the actual positions-of certain of said battleship 4a to the white squareadjacent, and as shown by the single-'dottedline may on the next move byplayer a proceed to the square on which the bow of the enemy battleship rests,

and sink the same. It thus behooves the enemy, or b player, to move his battleship instead of proceedingwith his attack strategyr From the samebattleship apon the opposite" side, is another shell '9a, which by like line's'isindicatedto have been launched onto'the black square it'occupies, and is to move to the next squarein its pointed direction, to sinkor destroy the airplane 6b. The tortuous line from the plane 61) to the battleship 4a, shows that the said plane may not move to attack the ship, because it cannot occupy and pass the square on which the shell 9a rests, since that plane is vulnerable to the shell,

as indicated by the marked indicia on bothpieces as heretofore described. Moreover, thecarrier 211 has launched a plane 6a, as shown by doubledotted lines, and may on the next move of two squares destroy the enemy plan'efib, as shown by On the other hand, the: 17 player has brought up-hisbattleship 4b and has 1 fired a shell 91) which asshown bydotted' lines as aforesaid, may occupy the same square as the submarine lb, for this in' actuality is a subaqueous unit, while the shell is supposedly aerial. The submarine lbhas fired a torpedo at battleship da, while a twisted dotted-line from destroyer 5a indicates that it may not moveto and occupy the same square as the'submarine. On another square a' destroyer 512 has fired a torpedo which has traveled two-squares, as shown by douhie-dotted lines, may occupy the same square as its submarine lb, and is proceeding across that square to sink destro yer 5a or the transport 3a just beyond.-

It will of course be understood that this is just one of "many possible assemblies of the gamepieces in a game whose players move these pieces as they will, subject first to the characters and 'powersof the several pieces, their inherent abil- "ity or inability to move thus or so, to occupy or not occupy squares in common,their power to sink or destroy this pieceor thatas indicated by lations.

the color indicia. on thevariousy-pieces, 35.11 of which factors and attributes are ,fixed by themature, of the fleet units in their traveland operation in their respective media, also fixed by the indicia upon them; and secondly subject to the rules. of movement of certain of the pieces as describedherein, which mere rules are distinct fromthe fixed inherent powers and characters of the pieces which reside in their supposed traverse. in three media, and in the indicia specified, which rules add to the rounding out of the game in better consonance with the strategy wrought from their fixed natures and fixed re- While I have outlined the present, and preferable rules for playing my newly-invented naval game for purposes off-clarity of understanding of said, invention and of the manner of operationthereof, these mere rules do not constitute my invention, nor the essential part there.- of ;v they enable comprehension of'the objects and purposes of my invention, and of the novel features, fixed, structural, permanent and inventive,

structed inadvance unalterably thereafter,

which by their very structure and identifying features, are charactered and empowered, and concomitantly limited and inhibited, to act in certain ways, move in certain manner and not other, to move one way if a conflicting gamepiece is not there, and not so move if it is, to destroy, conquer or capture one piece and not another, these ind-icia being wholly dependent upon the structure and identifying marks upon an enemypiece of an entirely different character, so that the game-pieces are interdependent per se inherently, and by that interdependence and identifying and empowering and inhibiting indicia, I

,may operate on a plane board the game of three dimensions, three vertically distinct strata of traverse, with the ability and qualified power to invade the other two strata, and destroy a vessel therein, or inhibit the movements of another vessel. or gamespiece, by any andall of the game- .pieces of each stratum, so that they are confined to a. supposed medium or intra-stratum move- -ment while empowered on occasion representin the conditionsof combat, to engage in interstrata battle and destruction; secondly, the

game-piecesare provided in the form and measure of a set number of major characters, fashioned to represent the major vessels of a task force escortinga transport, which vessels are set on certain definite squares at the outset, while I provide auxiliary game-pieces held in reserve and placed, as the game proceeds, upon squares usually and designedly other than the base squares of starting, which auxiliary game-pieces, are suc- Cessively placed upon the board, and remain upon said board as long as the player elects, and

each, is or may be started or entered into the game at a different spot or square usually more and more remote from the base, these auxiliary game-pieces, being movable upon the board at all times and capable of being both initially placed, and continually further placed, in various and different squares upon the board relatively to the .major game-pieces both of the playerand especially of his opponent, so that the game becomes more plentiful ofv pieces upon the board as it -.-progresseS, the intertwined menaces of the insaid major piecees.

creasingly augmented number and; separate-positions of both the major pieces; and the auxiliary pieces, create a correspondingly increased; intrica'cy of network of perils, and escapes, of piecerelationships, of intriguing strategy and planned tactics; the surface of the game-board presenting therefore an increasing complexity and pattern of game-pieces and problems, and unless the players are equally matched, there comesarealistic crumbling of the weaker side when, the auxiliary game-pieces are, successively operated to destroy enemy major game-pieces:"representing vessels; though, the player may of course exercise his right. to; use these auxiliary pieces to. destroy as fast as he places them each upon. the board, if his opponent. does not preventv this'by counter action of; defense or offense, ora move simultaneously both. It will be noted that each auxiliary piece is permissibly and presumably placed upon the board contiguously'to the major; piece to" which it appertains by virtue of its specific form and character, e. g;., the airplane may only be launched from a plane-carrier, the shell ,(intendedly a, heavy bomb-shell) from-abattleship, the torpedos from the light destroyer and submarine, which of course in actuality cannot carryand fire guns of the calibre of a battleship firing shells of major size, and therefore are given in my game the torpedoes as; their missiles;

thus the distance to which the major 'vesselsiare moved, and their consequent contigu-ity' to the enemy, govern the nearness of approach thereto of the auxiliary game-pieces launched or fire by It; is possible for a game which starts with ten simply and distantly re,- lated pieces, to become a game of thirty two game-pieces in near complexly related positions of mutual orone-side-dominant perils. Thus it will be seen that these auxiliary game-pieces not only enable me to produce (with the indicia fixed upon each game-piecengoverning inherently its ability and inhibitions of movemenu'its vulnerability and invulnerability to, and powers of destruction) a' game of three dimensions or traverse or strata, as before described, but inany and all strata of battle,lin the very essence of the whole game, they also help to create an entirely original navalgame of this class offering situa tions and alterations of situations not common- 1y a feature of any games of thisiclass or even generally related nature.

It will also be manifest that this game may consequently be played by players of differing skills and expertness; by the players mutually agreeing to, or tournament-organizers imposing, a handicap upon one player or team of playing with a lesser number of' auxiliary game-pieces than the opponent.

Changes in the mere'rules of playing may be made and minor changes in'the device or details in immaterial respects likewise, without affecting in any'waythe essence of my invention, especially such structural or distinctive features and elements of the invention hereinabove described as are inherent and necessary therein to. produce the novel game I have devised, and which measurably prescribe at. least generally and, fundamentally the manner in which it. is playedas .most of the attributes of. my game, and of the game pieces thereof, combine to evolve the strategy and tactics approximating those of actual naval Warfare in which an amphibious expedition or task force embodying fleet units of the subaqueous, surface and aerial branches, is engaged,

1. account as of my invention all such minor and colorful variations thereof as fairly come within its spirit, and within the scope and purview of the claims defining the same hereunto ultimately appended.

In Figure 2 of the drawings, I have shown the four-player game, or two-team game, in which a pair of partners on each side, join together in an allied attack against opposed fleets or similarly allied task forces. The partners may play with their vessels aligned on opposite sides of the board, with each player allotted game-pieces of a distinctive color, whereby, e. g., the blue and gray oppose the red and yellow, or the players on one side my have men all of one color, and those of the opposite side have men of all one color, e. g., all-blue team against all-gray team. The partner strategy wherein a total of ten vessels is massed in skilful positions to destroy the enemy totally or piece by piece, will be found more lively, more deadly to deal with, more subtle. It is not essential that the men of each twoteam side be posted bothin alignment laterally, as shown in Figure 2, but such arrangement is better calculated to produce an interesting game than the alternative, which is quite permissible, of posting the game-pieces five on each (lefthand or right-hand) corner of the board. The game may also be played as a battle royal in which each fleet or task force operates independently, but this is not so fitting to the nature of naval warfare so closely simulated by my game, and its various novel features, which by my invention departs markedly from the old-style naval game in which simple replicas of naval vessels move like checker-men or parcheesi-men in arbitrarily and monotonously uniform motion on a board according to some simple set of rules bearing no relation to the conditions underlying naval warfare as afiecting convoying by a taskforce of three dimensions or media.

Where I specify red, green, yellow, orange, etc., for superposed color markings for the designed purpose, this is a descriptive, not a limiting, labelling, in that one color may be substituted for another, provided all marks named as of that color, on every game-piece, are also changed in marking to match.

Having thus fully described my invention, its mechanism, principle, and operation, what I claim is:

1. In a game of the class described, playable upon a checker-squared board, two or sets of player-distinguished game-pieces representing various vessels respectively adapted for combat in the several areas or strata, the sub-aqueous, the surface, and the aerial, each set of gamepieces being divided into two separate divisions or sections, namely, a plurality of major gamepieces of a size to occupy and fit within and upon a single square, and respectively shaped like a destroyer, a submarine and a transport-vessel, and a pair of other major game-pieces shaped respectively as a battle-ship and an aircraft-carrier of a size each to substantially occupy two squares-each of the same board, whereby visibly to be charactered and powered to move in any direction from either of the two squares so occupied by each in a game where such condition governs such pieces, while the other major pieces will show that they are not to be powered and movable from more than one space or square; and two or more sets of player-distinguished auxiliary game-pieces formed and shaped and charactered as missiles or. appurtenant stored and carried adjuncts of different purposes and functions visibly appropriate to the several major gamepieces representing battleship, aircraft-carrier, destroyer and submarine, these auxiliary gamepieces representing the portion of the pieces used in the game which are to be employed in destroying enemy pieces by motion of said auxiliary pieces upon the game-board and by their said form and shapes visibly showing that they are such missiles or appurtenant adjuncts and being adapted to be placed upon the surface near the game-board and to be successively placed and moved upon thesaid board by each respective player in squares contiguous to those occupied by the major pieces to which they are so appurtenant; both'the said major game-pieces and the auxiliary game-pieces being distinctively marked with indicia of like color but different design visible at all times to all the players and others about the game, and showing by the particular indicia upon each, just which auxiliary "piece or missile or other adjunst they can launch or fire, or be launched or fired by, and with just which other pieces they can occupy a square, and to which pieces theyare vulnerable or contrarily invulnerable.

2. In a game of the class described, playable upon a checker-squared board, two or more sets of player-distinguished game-pieces representing various vessels respectively adapted for combat in the sub-aqueous, surface and aerial strata, and constituting the major game-pieces of the game, such as are customarily placed upon the board at its outset in base positions; and two or more sets of player-distinguished auxiliary game pieces matching each set of major game-pieces,

and fashioned to represent appurtenant or adjunct warfare items commonly carried by some of the vessels represented by the major game-pieces, whereby they are visibly distinctive therefrom and appurtenant thereto, and whereby they may be thus appropriately employed in a game where they are intended to be placed near but not on the board and only moved thereon by the player upon a square contiguous to one of the major gamepieces during the progress of the game; both the major game-pieces and the auxiliary game-pieces being distinctively marked with indicia of like color but different design showing visibly at all times to all the players which of the auxiliary game-pieces may be launched or fired by which major game-pieces, and with which pieces any of either major or auxiliary pieces is vulnerable or invulnerable thereto, and with which ones they may occupy the same squares.

3. In a game of the class described, playable upon a checker-squared board, two or more sets of player-distinguished game-pieces representing various vessels respectively adapted for combat in the sub-aqueous, surface, and aerial strata, and constituting the major game-pieces of the game such as are customarily placed upon the board in base positions before starting the game, to commence or initiate the fleet-unit movements thereof; and two or more sets of matching player distinguished auxiliary game-pieces fashioned to represent appurtenant or adjunct warfare items such as missiles and airplanescommonly carried by vessels such as represented by the major game-pieces, and'being adapted to be appropriately employed in a game where they are intended to be placed near but not on the board and then-moved upon it upon a square contiguousto the respective vessels or major game-pieces during the progress of the game, to be employed in said game as substantially or nearly or mainly aerator the. sole; lethal r destructive piecesmoved to. destroy enemy pieces both. the major game-pieces and the, auxiliary game-pieces being distinctively marked with indicia of like color but different design, visible at all times to all players, and showing which of the various pieces may occupy squares in common during the progress of the game, which of the major pieces may launch from contiguous squares to them certain of the missile or adjuncts, to which they are vulnerable or invulnerable, the said indicia consisting of marks upon the, bow of the vessels of the major pieces and; registering complementary but not identical marks upon, certain, of the auxiliary pieces to indicate that they may launch or fire, said auxiliary pieces, and which enemy pieces similarly marked they may thereby destroy, and marks upon the tail or stern of the said major gamepieces. which indicate to which other game-pieces they are vulnerable and may in the game be destroyed thereby.

4., In a game of the class described, playable upon a checker-squared board, two or more sets of player-distinguished major game-pieces fashioned respectively as vessels of three vertical strata of combat or traverse, each set being movable upon the same plane of the game-board; two or more matching. player-distinguished sets of auxiliary game-pieces visibly fashioned as appurtenant game-pieces respectively adjuncts of certain of the vessels of the major pieces, and

also movable upon the same plane of the gameboard as all the other pieces when they are placed thereon in the progress of the game; all or most of, the pieces being marked with indicia visible at all times to all players, showing constantly which major pieces may launch or fire which auxiliary ones, which auxiliary ones may be so fired by said major pieces, which major pieces are vulnerable or invulnerable to certain other pieces, and which may occupy squares in common with which others, the said indicia being a mark of given color in selected form, such as a dot, and the auxiliary piece or pieces being marked with a like given color in a different form such as a band, the said dot on each major piece being placed upon its. bow to indicate its destructive power to pieces complementarily marked with the samecolor, and each major piece being also marked on the tall with a mark of one or more colors to indicate its vulnerability to attack by a vessel or vessels having a dot of like color or dots of various respective colors on it bow, or to an auxiliary piece or pieces having a complementary band or bands: whereby a game of three-dimensional warfare may be played upon a plane surface by the game-pieces representing the vessels of said three combat strata, and the said auxiliary pieces.

5. In a gamev of the class described, playable upon a checker-squared game-board; two or more sets of player-distinguished game-pieces fashioned respectively to represent various vessels vadapted for comb-at in or from the several areas or strata, the sub-aqueous, the surface, the aerial, each set of major pieces being divided into two sections or sizes, namely, a plurality of such game-pieces of a size to occupy and fit within and upon a single square of the game-board, and

. respectively shaped like a destroyer, a submarine and a transport, and adapted to be appropriately employed in a game where such pieces are alloted certain single or otherwise equal movement, and a pair of other major game-pieces of a size each to occupy two squares of the same. board 16 whereby visibly to be, empowered to. move any direction from either of said squares. in, a, game where it is part of the. playing mode that they are so empowered; and two or more sets of matching player-distinguished auxiliary gamepicces fashioned as visible adjuncts or appurtenances to certain of the major game-pieces re:- spectively, toshow visibly their employability in connection with and operability from the squares of the. game-board contiguous to the said major game-piece, the said auxiliary game-pieces representing respectively airplanes and missiles commonly carried by the major game-piece vessels and being adapted to be employed as such adjuncts, and to be moved upon the same plane of the game-board when placed thereon in the progress or the game; both the major gamepieces and the auxiliary game-pieces. being marked with indicia, of several different colors, to

visibly show to all players at all times the interdependent movement and inhibition of :move; ment of the several major and auxiliary pieces, their ability or inability to occupy the same squares, their Vulnerability or invulnerability, the said indicia consisting of marks of like colors and different forms, such as dots and bands, upon the major piece and theauxiliary respectively, the dot upon the major piece being placed upon the bow of the vessel, and complementary dots of the several colors being placed upon the tail or stern of the major pieces to indicate that they may be destroyed by a, major or auxiliary piece bearing that same color: all whereby a-game of the aforesaid combat in three dimensions may be played upon the plane surface of the said game-board, and whereby there is produced a game of increasingly numerous, game-pieces upon the said board, moved thereon in the, progress of the game, and placed initially upon squares near the already advanced major pieces with which the game is started.

6. In a game of the class described, playable upon a checker-squared board of plane surface, two sets of game pieces for each player in said game, the first set being the vessel-shaped major pieces designed to be placed upon the board at the outset, the second set being auxiliary gamepieces fashioned to represent adjuncts to said major pieces and adapted to be placed upon the board and moved over its plane surfac'e'durin'g progress of the game; both of said sets of gamepieces matching in color or equivalent distinguishment; the major pieces being representative of vessels of three combat strata but wholly or mainly not directly destructive of enemy pieces; all of said pieces, both major and aux-- iliary, being provided with conspicuous indicia visible to all players, and interdependently com-'- plementary and varied in position upon each of the several pieces in such arrangement that a mark in one place upon one piece, and in another place upon another piece, indicates that the one may employ or destroy some other, while that other by its complementary mark is shown to be employable by one piece or destructive to another, or may be both and certain of the major pieces and each of the auxiliary pieces being marked with such indicia like in color but difierentin design.

7. In a game of the class described, playable on a checker-squared board, two sets or main game-pieces, one colored as blue, and the other as gray, in the shape of a battleship, an airplane carrier, a transport, a destroyer, and a submarine, the first two. about twice as long as the oth= ers, to visibly occupy twice as many squares on any given board; two or more sets of auxiliary game-pieces also colored as blue and as gray, constructed to lie upon and be movable on, a fiat game-board, and comprising at least two planes, approximately five pieces constructed like shells, and four like torpedoes; the said plane gamepieces being marked with a green band and the carrier piece with a green dot on the bow thereof, to visibly denote that said plane is a gamepiece belonging adjunctively to the carrier, the shells being marked with a red band and the battleship with a red dot on its bow, to denote that such auxiliary game-piece belongs to the battleship game-piece, the torpedo game-pieces being marked with yellow bands and the destroyer and the submarine game-pieces being marked with yellow dots on their bows to denote that the torpedo game-pieces belong to the said destroyer and submarine game-pieces; the battleship game-piece being also marked upon its stem with dots of red, green and yellow to further identify said game-piece as a vessel which customarily can be destroyed by a plane, a shell, or a torpedo; the transport and the carrier being likewise so marked with stern-dots so identifying; the destroyer game-piece being marked with stemdots of red and green for like reminder and identification; the submarine being provided with stern-dots of green and orange, and the destroyer being marked with an additional band of orange color to denote also its ability to ram a submarine and so identify the game-piece as a vessel thus attackable in actual warfare, and the plane auxiliary game-piece being provided with tail-dots of red and green color to identify it as a unit actually vulnerable to a shell or another plane; whereby also a game may, when so desired, be played upon a fiat board of two dimensions, with the game-pieces self-identifiable as operable, and destructive, and vulnerable, by such units as would in actuality be operable in the same either surface, aerial or sub-aqueous stratum or combat traverse,

8. In a game of the class described, two sets of game-pieces color-distinguished, representing major vessel units; two matching sets of likecolored pieces movable on a flat board, and constructed in the shape of planes, shells and torpedoes; each of the major game-pieces being bowmarked with a distinctive color superposed upon its overall color, and each of the plane, shell and torpedo game-pieces being marked with a like superposed color in a difierent pattern; at least one of the plane, shell or torpedo game-pieces, and all the major game-pieces representing ma jor vessels being alsomarked with a plurality of several other stern color marks in addition; all of said superposed colors being varied in tint and meaning; whereby a game playable in a strategy of actual three-dimensional warfare may be, when so desired, played upon a flat two-dimensional board.

GUY PASCHAL. 

